A cake or pie pit-stop is part of most Hong Kongers’ daily routine, so you don’t have to go far to find a bakery in any neighbourhood – the majority are take away, with customers buying bags of treats for home, work, or if you’re like me, to scoff on the hoof. Whenever i am in Hong Kong, i will always make a re-visit to Sham Shui Po, one of city’s oldest neighbourhoods and would recommend a visit here for some of the finest Hong Kong-style bakeries. These traditional no-frills joints serve up trays of buttery tarts, sticky glazed buns and airy sponges to an enthusiastic audience, from early morning until evening time, for just a few dollars. There are plenty of posh cake shops in other Hong Kong districts – multi-coloured French-style macaroons, towering gateaux and expensive high-end biscuits are on display behind glass counters like works of art. But for no-nonsense hustle, simple flavours and great value, the old-school bakeries are a winner.

Hung Fat Chinese Cake has been operating on Ki Lung Street in Shum Shui Po district in Hong Kong for more than 60 years. The cake master start preparing at 4am every morning to make fresh breakfast for the neighborhood. The 60-year-old shop has certainly witnessed the changes and development of the Sham Shui Po community. The residential area transformed into street shops on both sides and housed a variety of small businesses. The area later evolved into a cloth and clothing accessories distribution center in the 1980s and 1990s. The little Cake Shop, Hung Fat, has never changed since 1955, producing traditional cake dim sums for the neighborhood every day.

The shop is filled with different styles of dim sum cakes including Put Chai Pudding, sugar cake, taro cake, thousand layers cake and Chinese Fever Vine cake etc. Hung Fat is usually very busy during the annual Lunar New Year, the Hungry Ghost Festival as well as during wedding days. Apart from cakes and puddings, Hung Fat also offers congee in the morning.

The shop's interior has hardly changed since those days. The white tiles on the floor are cracking and old crates and equipment are piled in corners. At the entrance sits a giant steamed brown sugar cake. Made with brown sugar slabs and rice flour, it is a moist, elastic and subtly sweet cake. Also on display are other sticky, steamed sweets, which to the untrained eye may look more at home in a haunted house.

位于深水埗基隆街的鸿发, 一室古旧装潢, 地板铺著传统纸皮石, 天花掛着白色吊扇, 老板黄伯六十多年来风雨不改, 每天都坐在大门口坐镇.

地板鋪着传統紙皮石, 天花掛著白色吊扇. 店舖虽残旧, 但更有风味, 价钱亦是街坊价, 难怪多年屹立不倒.

90-year old owner, Mr Wong was originated from the four-county. He was introduced by friends with the same origin and moved to Sham Shui Po in Hong Kong where most of the four-county population settled. Mr Wong started his business on selling traditional cake dim sums. He inherited this business when he was in his 20s and has been running it till now.

Every day, Mr Wong sits at the booth of his 60-year-old cake shop, waiting to greet his regulars. Most of the time, they are silver-haired ladies or men who were his friends long before they started having to use an umbrella, cane or shopping trolley to help them walk.Sometimes these old friends bring along their grandchildren and he serves them a slice of steamed brown sugar cake, or glutinous rice flour pudding with red beans, steamed in a small cup, like he used to when he started the shop in 1955.

Although Mr Wong no longer makes the cakes due to old age, he still continues to supervise and hopes that the recipes of his childhood won't be lost. From custard tarts to coconut cakes and chicken pies, Hong Kong’s traditional bakeries bring sweet carbohydrate heaven to the city.